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  He was clearly disappointed and Carole made a mental note to offer to work with him on his skills. Meanwhile she concentrated on her own performance, determined to win this event.

  As it turned out, she did just that, even beating Stevie, who was an expert at dressage. Veronica came in third and Lisa placed fourth. The Saddle club managed to score enough points to compensate for Zach’s early elimination.

  At the end of the event Max called everybody together once again. “The overall winner of today’s gymkhana is Group Three: Lisa, Carole, Stevie, and our newest member, Zach—who,” he added, “should also receive a special congratulations for his spectacular performance today. Well done, ‘Z.’ ”

  Carole chuckled. Max had obviously picked up on Zach’s habit of shortening Carole’s name to C. She was enormously relieved to have won at least one event. It helped offset her two other miserable performances.

  “We couldn’t have done it without you,” Stevie told Zach.

  “You’re going to be a great rider,” Lisa said with open admiration.

  Even Max praised the boy. “I’ve rarely seen such natural ability, Zach. Or such ragged form,” he added with a grin. “Still, considering the short time you say you’ve been riding, today was very impressive.”

  Carole walked away, feeling left out. Normally Stevie and Lisa would have been congratulating her. She had, after all, won the last event for them. Today, however, no one seemed to care about anything except Zach’s performance. As she stood apart from the crowd she noticed Barq, also alone and abandoned, tied to a rail. It was obviously going to be a while before the new star could tear himself away from his admirers. She went to the horse and stroked his forehead. “Just because your rider hasn’t learned to put your needs first is no reason why you should suffer,” she said, untying the horse. “Come on, boy. I’ll take care of you.”

  After leading both Starlight and Barq back to the stables, Carole quietly groomed and watered them. As she was finishing, Lisa and Stevie showed up.

  “Where have you been?” Lisa asked. “It’s almost like a party out there.”

  “Yeah,” agreed Stevie. “Zach’s been telling us stories about his summer in Texas. It must’ve been a blast.”

  “Sorry I missed it,” Carole replied insincerely. “Someone had to look after the horses.”

  “Good point,” agreed Lisa. “I guess we’d better get started, too.”

  The two girls moved away.

  “Oh!” Lisa cried. “We almost forgot to tell you.”

  Carole looked up expectantly.

  “We invited Zach to have lunch with us on the knoll. He’s going to tell us some more stories.”

  “He’s such a crack-up!” added Stevie.

  Carole felt annoyed. Lisa and Stevie were supposed to be her best friends, but they had almost forgotten to tell her about lunch because they were so swept off their feet by that boy.

  “Sounds nice,” she said with zero enthusiasm. “But, you know, I’ve got an awful lot of work left to do. Maybe you’d better start without me. I’ll join you when I can.”

  “Okay,” Stevie said. “See you later.” She and Lisa departed, laughing over something funny Zach had told them.

  They were actually leaving! Carole couldn’t believe it. Normally if she told them she was busy, they would have offered to help, but today they weren’t giving her a thought.

  Carole left Starlight’s stall to go mix some grain for Sunset. Let them have their dumb old picnic. She wouldn’t dream of turning up and spoiling the fun. That would show them.

  LATER THAT AFTERNOON as she circled the ring with the rest of the class, Carole felt her spirits rising. She was performing much better than she had earlier in the day. Starlight’s steady rhythm and the bright sunshine were a soothing balm to her ruffled feelings. Besides, she always enjoyed the afternoon class because Max tended to concentrate on the more technical aspects of riding.

  “Zach,” Max called, “you’re still coming out of the saddle too high. And get those heels down!”

  Carole felt a twinge of satisfaction. While Zach might be a whiz at galloping around pell-mell, he seemed to be having trouble mastering the finer points of the sport. From what she’d observed he didn’t seem capable of concentrating on more than one instruction at a time. As soon as Max gave him additional skills to work on, the earlier instructions seemed to go right out of his head. She stole a glance at his face. He looked frustrated and unhappy. She remembered how joyful and enthusiastic he had been that morning and suddenly she didn’t feel quite so self-satisfied.

  “All right, everyone, come to the center,” Max called.

  Obediently the class pulled up their horses and approached him. “You’re all doing very well. However, in order to keep you on your toes, I have arranged for us to compete in a small Pony Club schooling show two weeks from today.”

  A thrill of excitement ran through the riders.

  “What other teams are competing, Max?” Stevie asked.

  “Sunny Meadows and Cross County.”

  “Yes!” Stevie exclaimed. Her boyfriend, Phil, was a member of the Cross County Pony Club.

  Max smiled. “I sort of thought you’d feel that way, Stevie.”

  “Excuse me, Max,” Zach said. “What exactly is a schooling show?”

  Max eyed the group. “Anyone care to fill him in?”

  Lisa spoke up. “Sometimes some of the clubs get together and compete in classes to see how we’re all doing compared to each other. It’s not officially recognized by the Horse Show Association, but it’s a very useful learning tool.”

  “And lots of fun,” Stevie added. “They usually have a choice of about ten classes you can enter. Jumping, pleasure, dressage, halter—that sort of thing.”

  “At various levels of experience, of course,” Max assured Zach. “The judges will be me and the other two Pony Club directors. With that goal in mind, I think it might be useful for you to get a few extra lessons under your belt.” He smiled at the boy. “How about it, Zach? Would you be interested in some private tutoring with me?”

  Carole was amazed. Max was a very busy man and he rarely offered any of his students private sessions. She was certain the boy wouldn’t appreciate the honor he was being offered.

  To his credit, Zach looked enthusiastic. “Of course! That would mean extra time on horseback, right?”

  “Yes, our lessons will be mounted,” Max assured him. “However, it occurs to me you could use some help in other areas as well. There’s a lot of preparation that goes into getting ready for a show.” He scanned the other riders. “Does anybody want to volunteer to do a little tutoring?”

  Stevie’s and Lisa’s hands immediately shot up.

  “We’d be happy to help Zach,” Stevie said.

  “Absolutely,” Lisa concurred. “How about it, Carole?”

  Carole felt Max’s eyes turn to her. For the first time in her life she found herself reluctant to help someone. Only this morning she had told herself that she would give Zach some pointers, but that had been before all the big fuss over his riding ability. Zach would do fine without her. After all, he had Stevie and Lisa falling all over themselves to work with him. “I think I’m going to leave it up to you two this time,” she said, not meeting Stevie’s and Lisa’s eyes. “I have a lot of extra work looking after Sunset, and I think she deserves my full attention.”

  “I’m sure Sunset will benefit greatly from your care,” Max told her, turning away.

  “Carole, you’re not going to be too busy for our trail ride tomorrow, are you?” Stevie asked anxiously.

  Carole broke into a smile. A ride with her two best friends was exactly what she needed to shake off this mood. “Of course not. You can definitely count on me for that.”

  Stevie looked relieved. “Great, because we told Zach we would show him our favorite spot by the creek.”

  Carole felt her spirits plummet. They had invited Zach to go with them! She had planned to talk to Stevie and L
isa about her feelings toward him, but now she wouldn’t be able to. Worse, he would probably do something spectacular and blow everybody away again. Did she really want to see that? No way! Would anybody miss her if she didn’t go? Doubtful. Could she think of a way to gracefully excuse herself? Negative.

  She would simply have to make the best of it.

  “Tell you what,” Max was saying. “You all did such a fine job this morning that I’m going to end class with a few minutes of free riding around the ring. When you’re done, take care of your horses and I’ll see you all next time.” He started to move away. “Carole, you’re in charge.”

  “Okay, Max.” His confidence in her made her feel much better. She urged Starlight into a rocking canter, leading the others around the ring. After a couple of circles she signaled Stevie to take the point and trotted into the middle of the ring to keep an eye on the others. Zach had a broad grin on his face once again, clearly having the time of his life. Carole knew how he felt. The speed and strength of the animal beneath her was always a rush. Sometimes the responsibilities of riding weighed her down and she forgot the sheer joy of simply being one with her horse. Watching Zach, she was reminded of what it was that had first attracted her to the sport, and to her surprise, she found herself smiling as she watched him.

  What is my problem? she wondered. Zach was a nice guy. Stevie and Lisa liked him, and they had good instincts. Actually everybody seemed to like him. Could it be she was jealous of all the attention he’d been getting? Could she really be that petty? Suddenly she felt ashamed. Zach had done nothing wrong. In fact he’d saved the day for The Saddle Club; and how was she repaying him? By refusing to help him. She decided that would stop right then. From that moment on she would do everything she could to encourage him to grow in the sport.

  “Okay, everybody, time’s up,” she called.

  There were several groans of protest, including a few from Zach, but everybody reined in and walked their horses out of the ring.

  Carole dismounted Starlight and waited for Stevie and Lisa to join her. Zach was tagging along.

  “That was a tough class,” he said. “I liked the last few minutes the best.”

  “I know what you mean,” Stevie said. “Sometimes it’s fun to let your horse out.”

  “Not sometimes, all the time,” Zach replied with a grin. “I don’t think my cousin and I ever went anywhere slower than a gallop.”

  Carole cringed. “Fun for you, but kind of hard on your horses, don’t you think?”

  “Don’t worry, C, I’m exaggerating,” Zach assured her. “Actually Turbo, the horse I was riding there, was truly cool and I tried to look out for him. You know, like you do for a friend. Now, I’ve got Barq here,” he added, patting his horse’s neck. “If we’re going to be buds, then I’d better learn to take care of him, too.”

  Carole was tremendously relieved to hear that. Perhaps she had been too hasty to judge him after all.

  Lisa smiled at him approvingly. “Good attitude, Zach.”

  “You know, after a long day of riding, sometimes I like to go home and soak in a bath.” Carole mused.

  “Oh, I know what you mean,” Lisa agreed wholeheartedly. “I could soak for hours.”

  Stevie let out a bitter laugh. “Ha! Never happen in my house. I’m lucky if my brothers give me five minutes. After that, it’s pure grief.”

  Lisa giggled. “She suffers terribly.”

  Carole laughed, too. “Joan of Arc has nothing on our Stevie.”

  “I’m more of a shower man myself,” said Zach. “Mr. Efficient.”

  Carole had hoped he’d say something like that. It was the opportunity she was looking for. “Funny you should say that, Zach, because I think Barq feels the same way.”

  “Huh? You have a shower for horses around here?”

  “We have the next best thing,” Carole assured him. “We have a hose.”

  “That’s a great idea, Carole,” Lisa said. “Let’s give the horses a bath. They’ve worked hard today.”

  “Sure, they deserve it,” Stevie agreed.

  Zach looked from one girl to another. “Back in Texas we brushed the horses, but I don’t remember ever washing them.”

  Lisa smiled. “Well then, Zach, allow us to introduce you to a new experience.”

  “You know, you haven’t really lived until you’ve washed under a horse’s tail,” Stevie told him with a big grin.

  Zach pulled a face of disgust and for a moment Carole thought he was going to refuse. Then he laughed.

  “I guess my cousin was holding out on me. Okay, if you guys will show me how, I’m game.”

  The four of them removed their horses’ saddles and bridles and slipped on their halters. Over the next hour the girls proceeded to show Zach how to thoroughly wash a horse.

  Carole watched the boy closely as he learned how to carefully sponge off Barq’s face. He was surprisingly gentle cleaning out the horse’s nostrils and the corners of his eyes. Although he was a bit clumsy with some of the equipment, dropping the hoof pick a couple of times, even Carole had to admit he seemed completely devoted to making sure Barq got the care the animal deserved.

  By the time the four of them were finished, the horses were shining from head to toe and the humans were exhausted.

  Zach sank down onto a hay bale. “I’m wiped. Please, please tell me we don’t have to do that every time we ride!”

  “Nah,” Stevie assured him. “Only every other time.”

  Zach looked dismayed.

  “Actually it’s more like every now and then,” Lisa assured him. “Stevie’s pulling your leg.”

  “Could you pull off my boots while you’re at it?” he asked Stevie. “My feet are killing me.”

  Carole spotted Max coming across the stable yard. “Hey, guys, I suggest we beat a hasty retreat before Max assigns us chores.”

  “Chores!” exclaimed Zach, jumping up. “Color me gone!”

  As a rule Max took advantage of kids hanging around the stable by putting them to work. This helped cut down on expenses so that he could keep his riding rates lower and more people could afford to learn. Usually The Saddle Club didn’t mind helping out, but just then they were exhausted.

  Moving quickly to collect their things, they managed to slip out of Pine Hollow without Max spotting them.

  “Don’t forget about the trail ride,” Lisa reminded Zach as they were about to part company.

  “Wouldn’t miss it,” Zach assured her. “Tomorrow I’ll show you some real riding!”

  THE NEXT DAY the weather was glorious, perfect for a trail ride. Carole watched as cotton-ball clouds drifted through the blue skies. “I can’t remember a more perfect-looking day.”

  “It really is the best time of year for riding,” Stevie said from her place in line.

  “I hope it’s like this for the day of the show,” Lisa said.

  “Speaking of which …” Stevie turned in her saddle to look behind her. “What classes do you think you’ll enter, Zach?”

  “Don’t know,” he replied thoughtfully. “All of them, I guess.”

  From the moment they set out on their ride, Zach had been smiling contentedly, and Carole could tell he was enjoying the informal atmosphere and the camaraderie. She also couldn’t help noticing that his heels were up and his elbows were sticking out. He really was going to need to put in some hard work before the competition.

  “You can’t enter them all,” Stevie laughed. “Only the ones for your experience level.”

  Zach frowned. “I wish I didn’t have to ride in the baby classes.”

  “That’s beginner classes. Of which you are one,” Carole reminded him.

  “But everyone keeps telling me I’m good,” he protested.

  “Oh you are, Zach,” Stevie assured him. “I’ve never seen anyone as good as you with so little experience.”

  “But in competition, details are hugely important,” Lisa said solemnly.

  “Like heels and elbows,” Caro
le added pointedly.

  Zach took the hint and corrected his posture. Carole smiled.

  “Maybe you should start with the halter class,” Stevie suggested.

  “What’s that?”

  “That’s where you show your horse in only his halter,” Lisa told him. “You’ll be judged on his conformation—”

  “His what?”

  “You know, how he’s built. Does he stand with his legs squarely under himself or is he slouching? When you ask him to move out do you have to tug on his lead line or does he obey you right away? That kind of thing.”

  Zach made a face. “Boring!”

  “What about dressage?” Stevie said. “That’s one of my favorites.”

  “Go on…,” Zach said.

  “It’s only you and your horse in the ring. You have to perform certain precise movements and the judges score you on how well you do them.”

  Zach looked doubtful. “What kind of movements?”

  “Side passes, moving from a collected trot to an extended one, that kind of thing. And the judges shouldn’t see you giving cues to your horse. It should almost look like you’re doing nothing and the horse is doing everything.”

  Zach looked completely uninterested. “Or I could sit and watch cement dry.”

  Carole saw Stevie was a little hurt. “It takes a great deal of skill to compete in dressage, Zach. As a matter of fact, Stevie is one of the very best at it.”

  Stevie smiled at her. “Thanks.”

  “I have a feeling Zach is looking for something with more action,” Lisa said.

  “You should learn to jump, Zach,” Stevie suggested enthusiastically. “It’s absolutely the best. You canter up to a fence and the next thing you know you’re soaring over it. It’s awesome.”

  That seemed to get his attention. “Now we’re talking!”

  “Of course it will be a little while before you’re ready for that,” Carole cautioned. “Not in time for this show, certainly.”

  Zach looked discouraged. “Do they have anything with galloping?”

  Carole shook her head. “I’m afraid you’re out of luck. Most saddle classes are restricted to walking, trotting, and cantering, although sometimes they ask for a hand gallop.”